This page summarises the 2020 Major League Rugby season, the 3rd season in League history. It contains the regular season standings as well as MLR leaders. The 2020 season experience the second wave of MLR expansion, as three new teams joined the competition to bring the total number to 12. The New England Free Jacks, Old Glory DC, and Rugby ATL all made their debuts in the 2020 season, making it the largest wave of expansion in league history.

To adapt to the growing league and to limit huge travel distances across the continent, a conference system was introduced. Two Conferences of 6 teams each, Western (Austin, Colorado, Houston, San Diego, Seattle, Utah) and Eastern (Atlanta, DC, New England, New Orleans, New York, Toronto) were established. Each team would play the other teams in their conference home and away, and each team in the other conference home or away, to make up a 16 game regular season.

Unfortunately for teams and fans alike, the 2020 season was heavily disrupted by the global COVID-19 pandemic which cancelled all major sporting events across the world. On March 12, 2020, MLR announced that the season would immediately cease for 30 days due to the increasing risk of COVID-19 and the preventative restrictions. One week later, MLR announced that the 2020 season was officially cancelled. Only 5 rounds had been completed.

Regular Season

Eastern Conference

Position	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	PF	PA	+/-	Try Bonus	Losing Bonus	Points
1		5	4	0	1	151	89	+62	2	1	19
2		5	4	0	1	122	129	-7	1	0	17
3		5	3	0	2	135	102	+33	3	1	16
4		5	3	0	2	136	131	+5	2	1	15
5		5	2	0	3	116	119	-3	2	2	12
6		5	1	0	4	139	158	-19	4	1	9

Western Conference

Position	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	PF	PA	+/-	Try Bonus	Losing Bonus	Points
1		5	5	0	0	161	108	+53	3	0	23
2		5	2	1	2	125	134	-9	2	0	12
3		5	2	0	3	98	130	-32	0	1	9
4		5	1	0	4	138	162	-24	2	2	8
5		5	1	1	3	104	155	-51	1	0	7
6		5	1	0	4	99	116	-17	0	2	6

While it is impossible to know what could have happened in the 12 cancelled weeks of the season, early signs indicated that the Eastern Conference was far more competitive than the West (6th in the East New England would be 3rd in the West), with the exception of the San Diego Legion who were a perfect 5-0 at the point the season was cancelled, the only undefeated team remaining. The Legion were the only team in the West with 3+ wins, and the only Western team with a positive points differential. The Legion led the league with 23pts, almost double the Utah Warriors, 2nd in the West with 12.

The Toronto Arrows and Old Glory DC both had a 4-1 record after 5 rounds, with the Toronto Arrows leading the Eastern Conference by virtue of 2 additional bonus points. All of the Arrows’ games were on the road, but they still held the best points difference in the league with +63. Who knows how far MLR’s only Canadian club could have gone were it not for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Championship Series

As already established, there was no Championship Series held for the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, and the shield was not awarded. The plans for the 2020 Championship Series were to expand the playoffs to 6 teams, with the top 3 teams in each conference qualifying.

The #1 ranked team in each conference (after 5 rounds, the Toronto Arrows in the East and the San Diego Legion in the West) would secure a bye to the Conference Finals, which would act as the Semifinal matches. The #2 & #3 ranked teams would face off in the Eastern/Western ‘Eliminator’ Round, with the winners advancing to face the #1 ranked teams in the Conference Finals.
The winners of the Conference Finals would then face each other for the MLR Shield in the Championship Final, for the chance to lift the shield.

2020 Player Leaderboards & Accolades

Becuase the season was cancelled after only 5 rounds, there were no All-MLR Teams named for the shortened 2020 season, nor were there Player of the Year, Back of the Year, Forward of the Year, or Coach of the Year awards.

The below tables show the Top 10 players in various categories, Tries scored, Points Scored, Tackles, and Meters Gained at the point that the season was cancelled:

Scoring Leaderboards – Top Points Scorers & Try Scorers

Pos.	Player	Team	Points	Separator	Pos.	Player	Team	Tries
1	Jason Robertson		67		1	Riekert Hattingh		5
2	Sam Malcolm		60		2	Cam Dolan		4
3	Sam Windsor		57		3	Tiaan Erasmus		4
4	Carl Meyer		48		4	Dan Moor		4
5	Cathal Marsh		45		5	John Poland		4
6	Hagen Schulte		43		6	Doug Fraser		3
7	Luke Burton		37		7	Alex Maughan		3
8	Kurt Coleman		36		8	Dean Muir		3
9	Brock Staller		30		9	Ma’a Nonu		3
10	Marcelo Torrealba		28		10	Tira Patterson		3

Other Leaderboards – Tackling & Meters Gained

Pos.	Player	Team	Tackles	Separator	Pos.	Player	Team	Meters Gained
1	Nate Brakeley		96		1	Carl Meyer		488
2	Lucas Rumball		73		2	John Ryberg		422
3	Johan Momsen		70		3	Mason Emerson		411
–	Matt Heaton		70		4	Gannon Moore		406
5	Jurie van Vuuren		67		5	Julián Domínguez		380
6	Mungo Mason		66		6	Tiaan Loots		370
–	Tomy de la Vega		66		7	Mungo Mason		360
8	Bailey Wilson		66		–	Jason Robertson		360
9	Riekert Hattingh		63		9	Dylan Audsley		328
10	Stefan Willemse		59		10	Ben Foden		310

End of Season Awards such as Player of the Year, Forward/Back of the Year, etc. were not awarded for the truncated 2020 season as only 5 rounds had been completed before the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Top Scorer: Jason Robertson (OGDC) – 67pts
• Top Try Scorer: Riekert Hattingh (SEA) – 5
• Top Tackler: Nate Brakeley (RUNY) – 96
• Top Meter Eater: Carl Meyer (NOLA) – 488m